Category: Pirates

Local sports fans just gave Marc-Andre Fleury a long good-bye when he and about half a million of them exchanged waves during the Stanley Cup parade.

His good-bye piece in the Player’s Tribune put a nice finishing touch on it and showed why he was so popular. It’s hard to remember any star in any Pittsburgh sport getting a better send-off or having been more deserving.

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The Pirates and Cardinals will conclude their three game series at 8:08 tonight on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball. Pirates Talk Now sat down with ESPN’s Aaron Boone to discuss the matchup and some of the main focal points about the Pirates’ season so far.

ON THE MATCHUP

This is the second of three scheduled Sunday Night games for the Pirates this season, and their first against St. Louis. They will be the prime time game again on August 20 in Williamsport.

Boone: “I think in the case of the Cardinals, you have a wildly popular and consistently successful franchise. It’s just one of those teams that their is undeniable.

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The start of the Pirates 2017 season was defined by unfortunate off-field incidents, injuries and plain bad luck.

Fortunately for the Pirates, the season isn’t just two months long because here in the month of June, they’ve look liked a different team. Clint Hurdle’s team actually looks like a team that can contend in the NL Central.

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Tonight the Pirates open up an important 3-game series vs. the World Series Champion Chicago Cubs. Actually, these next two weeks of games are important because they’ll be against teams from the NL Central.

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Ken Rosenthal reported last weekend that the Pirates have decided to grant extensions to general manager Neal Huntington and manager Clint Hurdle, whose contracts are set to expire at the end of the season.

The Pirates haven’t announced it yet and it’s hard to tell when they will. They always seem to enjoy being secretive over such matters.

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The final rounds of the First Year MLB Draft were completed Wednesday. The Pirates took a selection of players from universities, colleges and high schools in the final day. Here is what you need to know about them.

ROUND 11 (328): Alex Manasa, RHP Jackson CC

Manasa proved to be a reliable two way player as a freshman in 2017. As an outfielder, he hit .410 with 16 doubles, three triples and three home runs over 183 at-bats. As a pitcher, he struck out 31 over 21.1 innings for a 1.27 ERA.

ROUND 12 (358): Hunter Wolfe, SS Walters State CC

Wolfe was a part of the 2017 University of Tennessee recruitment class and has three years of eligibility remaining. He lead Walters State with 19 stolen bases in 2016, hitting .393 with eight home runs.

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Rounds 3-10 of the First Year MLB Draft were completed Tuesday. The Pirates took seven collegiate players out of the eight picks. Here is what you need to know about them.

ROUND 3 (88): Dylan Busby, INF Florida State University

Busby is the 129th best prospect according to Baseball America, and the 185th to MLB.com. Fangraphs ranked him 82nd among college players using the KATOH projection system.

The righty corner infielder is currently hitting .315 with 20 doubles, 14 home runs and 62 RBI in 60 games as a junior. As a sophomore, he lead the team in slugging percentage at a .597 clip. Baseball America ranked him as the fourth best prospect in the Cape Cod League last season.